New York State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. $LBRT

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 50.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 80,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $838,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,318,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 200.0% during the third quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 599,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 399,900 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 94.3% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 95,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 46,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 94.6% in the third quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP now owns 334,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,129,000 after purchasing an additional 162,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LBRT stock opened at $33.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.40 and a 200 day moving average of $23.24. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.90 and a 52 week high of $34.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.19. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 39.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 9,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.79 per share, with a total value of $250,059.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,978.72. This represents a 54.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman William F. Kimble sold 7,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.92, for a total transaction of $249,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,185.60. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LBRT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Liberty Energy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.42.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin.